For John Marshall, head of commercial ventures at Tara TV, working
in Sweden was like being trapped inside an ad for breakfast cereal. ’The
entire workforce is sickeningly good looking, extremely fit and
friendly,’ he says.
But Marshall still spent a healthy and happy year working his way around
Scandinavia.
’The social support is excellent for parents, and staff are generally
well looked-after. Compared with office life in the UK, the workplace is
run on amazingly democratic value systems. The concept of telling a
member of staff to do something doesn’t exist. There are committee
groups for everything and managers involve staff in all levels of
decision making.’
Not surprisingly for the part of the world that brought us Ikea, the
office interiors are pleasant. ’There’s a strong sense of design
everywhere, especially in Stockholm,’ says Marshall. And despite rumours
to the contrary, you’re unlikely to spill alcohol over the stripped
pine.
’Drinking is down to a minimum, so it’s a great place to detoxify. In
place of the Soho three-hour lunch is a quick wholegrain sandwich
followed by a workout. But get those Swedes on the dancefloor after a
few drinks and there’s no accounting for what might happen.
’The standard of spoken English puts us to shame. I arrived with the
intention of learning Swedish but my Linguaphone gathered dust under my
bed.’
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